Deep End

by Ali Hazelwood

“Come on, Luk. I know you think she’s hot. You said so.” Silence. “And I see the way you look at her.” A buzz of unease bursts in the back of my skull. “How do I look at her?” “You know how.”

For people like me, like him—like us—trust is the real currency.

He shakes his head. “You’re not cold, Scarlett,” he says. “You’re…soft.”

You don’t have to be terrified of it anymore. I love you. I’m in love with you. And you’re in love with me. We can say it.” “Lukas.” “I have been in love with you for so long. And I won’t stop. I know it.” “Lukas—” “This is it, for me.” He presses a kiss against my cheek. “Remember back in the fall? When I was being a total asshole, trying to prove to myself that I could exist without you? I can’t, Scarlett. I can’t be without you. And for the first time in my life, I don’t care.

The entire universe is here, in his arms.